Improved sheathing for iron vessels



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEG FREDERIC PELHAM VARREN, OF EAST COURT, COSIIAM, GREAT BRITAIN.

lMPROVED SHEATHING FOR IRON VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,083, dated April IT, 1866.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERIC PELHAII VARREN, ofEast Court, Cosham, in the county of Hants, Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, commander in the navy of Her Britannie Majesty, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attaching Copper or other Sheathing to Iron Vessels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, ret'erence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists in the combination, with the iron plates of a vessel having serrated outer surfaces, of a metal sheathing having a serrated inner surface and an intermediate layer of insulating material, the serrated surfaces of the plates causing the insulating inaterial to adhere so iirmly to the same as to cement the sheathing iirmly to the vessel; and my invention further consists of certain devices, fully described hereinafter, whereby the upper edge of the sheathing is secured irmly to the vessel without destroying the perfect insulation of the said sheathing.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to apply my invention, I will now proceed to describe the mode of carrying the same into effect.

On reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1, Drawing No. l, and Figs. 6, 8, 9, and l0, Drawing No. 2, are sectional views, representing parts of the side of an. iron vessel with sheathing attached according to my improvement; Fig. 3, Drawing No. 1, a side view of a portion ot' a vessel with the sheathing-plates attached; Figs. 2, 4, and 5, Drawing No.1, views illustrating the kinds of rivets used for securing together the sheathing-plates; and Fig. 7, a sectional view, showing two of the sheathing-plates secured together.

The side C ofthe vessel, to which the sheathing is to be applied, is first roughened or indented vand is then coated with a fibrous or other noircondueting material, a, the material which I prefer to use, under ordinary circumstance, bein g what is known as Hays patent water-proof glue.7 The inner surfaces of the sheathing-plates d are then ronghened, and a coating of fibrous or other non-conducting material, similar to that placed on the side C of the vessel, is laid on the roughcned sides of these plates. In the edges oft-he plates d intended to be attached together I drill corre sponding rows of openings. rThe upper edge of the uppermost plate d is then introduced between the side of the vessel and a band, b, Fig. I, of galvanized iron or other suitable material, which is coated with insnlatingcement, and is secured, by bolts b', to the side of the vessel, so as to coniine the edge of the sheathing-plate firmly between the two. The plate l is then bent over the band I) and is brought against the outer coated surface of the vessel, and against the lower edge ot' the plateis laid the upper edge of another plate d, and through the openings in the edges of both plates are passed the split shanks of rivets n, which are then driven home, so as to spread the shank and clinch the same against the non-conducting material a, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the clinching of the rivet being effected without perforatin g or otherwise injuring the insulating material a. The remaining plates d are then secured in a similar manner to those already attached to the vessel, and that portion of the sheathing which is bent over the band b is protected by a cleat or band, c, ot wood or other suitable n'laterial, as shown in Fig. I. In someinstances, however, in place I of securin the ripper edge ofthe sheathing by the band b, as described, a rib, h, is formed at the upper edge of the upper plate d by folding the same, as shown in Fig. 9, or in any other suitable manner, and a belt or band, 7., of galvanized iron or other suitable material, of such a form as will cover the said rib, is laid over the same, and the whole are secured firm] y to thc side ofthe vessel by bolts J.

In order to insure a more perfect insulation and prevent the slightest galvanic action, the bolts which secure the upper portion ot' the sheathing to the vessel maybe tapped into screws g, ot' wood or other suitable non-con conducting material, secured, as shown in Fig'. G, into the armor-plates or side of the vessel. The sheathing is also cut away at the point where the bolts pass through the same, so that there shall not be the slightest contact between the sheathing and the bolts, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

It will be seen that by roughening the surn faces of both the vessel and the sheathing they are both caused to adhere rmly to the nonconducting materialplaced between the same, and are consequently strongly cemented to each other; and it will also be seen that by the means herein described of securing the plates to each other and to the vessel a most perfect insulation of the plates is obtained7 so that no galvanic action can result Jfrom the contact ot' different metals.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The combination, with the iron plates of a vessel having` serrated outer sufaces, of a metal sheathing, d, having a serrated inner lsurface and an intermediate layer of insulating FREDERIC PELHAM WARREN.

vWitnesses F. PIKE,

WILLIAM HOLMES. 

